Ore-feeder



L. 1). CRAIG.

(No Model.)

ORE FEEDER.

No. 426,245. Patented Apr. 22,. 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEE D. CRAIG, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ORE-F'EEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,245, dated April22, 1890.

Application filed February 25, 1890. Serial No. 341,762. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEE D. CRAIG, of San Francisco, in the county of SanFrancisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful.Improvement in Ore-Feeders; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention is an improved feeding mechanism for feeding ore into amill. It is of that class in which the material is moved from the hopperby means of an endless band pulley G.

passing over pulleys or sprocket-wheels.

My lnvention is designed to provide an apparatus of this class suitableto act for a feeder for ores, as above specified, or feeders of thatgeneral class, and my object, as compared with ore-feeding mechanismsheretotore known, is to produce a simple and effective mechanism and onewhich at the same time will operate with certainty and feed uniformlyand evenly.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 shows a verticalcross-section 011 line a: as of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a side elevation ofthe endless band and. hopper, one side of the casing or box beingremoved.

.In the drawings, A represents the hopper, one side of which is verticaland the other inclined. By the vertical side of this hopper is a box B,forming a channel in which is arranged an endless-chain conveyer D. Thechain has open links b, through which the ore can fall, and runs uponsprocket-wheels E F, one of which is provided with a driver- The chainruns on the bottom of the box 13, and with one edge closes against thevertical wall of the hopper. The chain moves in the direction of thearrows 1. At the bottom of the hopper is an opening a, made in thevertical wall thereof, and arranged to discharge the ore or stone uponthe chain while it is passing over the bottom of the box I3. The ore orstone is ordinarily in fragments not larger than a walnut and from thatsize down to smaller. The apparatus described permits the passage ofthis material through the opening a onto the chain. As the chain passesit falls into the open links and is swept along over the bot tom by thesolid parts of the chain 1) until it reaches an opening fin the bottom,where it falls through the open links into a hopper or chute H, whenceit is conveyed to the mill. The size of the opening a may be varied inany suitable way well known to regulate the amount of material fed tothe chain, which receives in each open link equal amounts. As the chainmoves on, I find it better to discharge the material on the lower partof the chain instead of the upper. In order to agitate the material inthe hopper, I have provided a lever K, which is pivoted on a crossbar L.The lower end of the lever projects through the opening a, and extendsover the chain, so as to be struck by the solid por tions as they passin succession. The upper end of the lever is connected to the side ofthe hopper by a lateral spring M, and as the chain moves the lever isdrawn in one direction by the solid portions, and when it has passedover such a portion it is snapped back by the spring, and thus thematerial in the hopper is kept constantly stirred.

In order to prevent any of the material from resting on the solidportions of the chain or adhering thereto and passing to thesprocket-wheels, I provide a brush N, arranged over the chute II, andthis cleans the chain as it passes thereunder.

I claim as my invention 1. A hopper having its discharge-opening at oneside, a stationary bottom plate outside the hopper and below the levelof the opening therein adapted to receive the discharge from the hopper,and a feed-chain arranged above the bottom plate, substantially asdescribed.

2. In combination with the chain and a hopper having a lateral openingarranged to discharge upon the chain, an oscillating lever K, pivotedwithin the hopper and extending into connection with the chain, withmeans for returning it, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEE D. CRAIG.

Witnesses:

ISADORE MIDDLETON, HENRY E. Coornn.

